I Am Number Four: Going for the Smallville Crowd?

Based on the trailer, I thought the sci-fi-teen flick ‘I Am Number Four‘ was going to be frightening and thrilling. I thought I’d be clutching my seat in terror the whole time. But alas, it’s just a mediocre film that I’ve already forgotten.

I got the feeling they were trying to go for the ‘Twilight’ or ‘Harry Potter’ crowd, since both of those franchises will be ending soon. ‘I Am Number Four’ has all of the right elements – angsty and good-looking teens, sci-fi elements, CG special effects, an ending that leads into a sequel, and D.J. Caruso as the director (he directed ‘[amazon_link id=”B000RO6K80″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Disturbia[/amazon_link]’ and ‘[amazon_link id=”B001L57ZZ6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Eagle Eye[/amazon_link]’). But again, it just wasn’t that memorable.

Actually, as I was watching ‘I Am Number Four,’ I kept thinking this would make a good TV series on The CW. It’d be perfect for that, and then they could develop the storyline a bit more and flesh out the characters. As a film, it felt very skimmed over, like they could have done a lot more if they’d only had the time. And you’d never know it was produced by Michael Bay; there weren’t any huge explosions, for crying out loud.

‘I Am Number Four’ isn’t a horrible movie, and who knows? Maybe some big-shot from The CW will read this and start the ball rolling to turn it into a TV series. ‘[amazon_link id=”B002JVWRDQ” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Smallville[/amazon_link]’ is about to end its run, after all.

Jane Boursaw is the founder and editor-in-chief of Reel Life With Jane. Her credits include hundreds of print and online publications, including The New York Times, People Magazine, Variety, Moviefone, TV Squad and more. Follow her on Twitter at @reellifejane.